James edge



(No Model.)

J. EDGE.

GARDING ENGINE.

No. 592,726. Patented Oct. 26, 1897.

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FFICE.

"ATENT JAMES EDGE, OF GORTON, ENGLAND.

CARDlNG-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 592,726, dated October26, 1897.

Application filed July 13,1897- Serial No. 644,420. (No model.) Patentedin England January 29, 1895, No. 2,014.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES EDGE, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain,and a resident of Gorton, in the county of Lancaster, England, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Cardin g-En gines, (forwhich I have obtained British Letters Patent No. 2,014, dated January29, 1895,) of which the following is a specification.

In the working of carding-engines both of the revolving flat and rollertype the card wire surface of the main cylinder and doffer becomecharged to a certain depth of the wire with cotton fiber. Afterperforming the operation known in the trade as stripping I find thatthis depth of fiber is lessenedso much that on restarting the engine thesliver for a certain length is thinner or lighter than it should be andcontinues to be in that condition until the wires are charged to theirnormal depth again. This defect is of a serious nature, since the yarnsubsequently spun from such sliver, after it has passed through theother preparation processes, is of an uneven character.

Now this invention is designed to obviate the above defect; and itconsists, essentially, in the combination, with the feed mechanism, ofmeans, substantially as hereinafter described, whereby said mechanism,after the stripping operation has been'performed, can be made to run ata higher speed than the normal one for a short period of time, thusfeeding the lap'of cotton to the main cylinder in greater quantity thannormal, this quantity being gradually reduced until the normal rate ofspeed is reached.

In the accompanying drawings, to which I will now refer for a morecompleteunderstanding of my invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation ofso much of a carding-machine as needed to illustrate the invention.

Fig. 2 is a section through the scroll-tooth bevel-wheel and thefeed-shaft gear driven by the same.

In the drawings, A is the feed-shaft, which is driven from thedoffer-shaft B. The feedshaft, as is well known, extends from the pointwhere it is in gear with the dofiershaft back alongside of the frame ofthe machine to the feed-roller and drives that roller through theintermediary of a beveled gear With which it is provided, which mesheswith a beveled wheel on the shaft of the feed roller, as shown, forexample, in Uni-ted States Letters Patent No. 403,72l,dated May 21,1889.Upon the doffer end ofthe feed-shaftis the usual bevel-gear a, whichordinarily is fixed to said shaft and meshes with and is driven byabevel-wheel on the doffer-shaft. Under my invention, however, the geara has longitudinal movement or movement lengthwise of its axis, and forthis purpose in the present instance it has a spline-and-grooveconnection ct with its shaft A, so that while revolving therewith it canslide lengthwise thereon.

Themeans for varying the speed of rotation of the feed-shaft is found,essentially, in the scroll bevel-toothed wheel 0 for driving said shaft.This wheel in the present instance is on the doffer-shaft and revolvestherewith and it meshes with and is designed to drive the feed-shaftgear a.

Thetoothed part of the wheel 0 consists of a scroll of beveled teeth 0,which at its inner end merges into a circle 0 of similar teeth, whichlatter stand for and serve as the beveled gear usually employed fordriving the feed-shaft gear-wheel a.

Between the folds of the scroll is a backing d, which bears against thelike-formed back of the feed-shaft gear a and serves to hold said gearup into engagement with the toothed portion of wheel 0.

As the scroll c nears its inner end it gradually decreases in height andpractically vanishes at its point of junction with the circular part c.The same is true of the backing d. The scroll c and backing d in effectform a V-groove which receivesand holds the likeshaped rim of thegear-wheel a and which gradually decreases in depth as it approaches thecentral circular part c.

The operation of the mechanism will be readily understood with briefexplanation.

When it is desired-as, for instance, after the stripping operationto runthe feed at first at a speed higher than normal, the gear wheel a isslipped back upon its shaft A, so as to engage the outer end of thetoothed scroll c. For this purpose the journal-box :0,

in which the front end of the feed-shaft has its bearing, is mademovable sidewiseor to and from the machine in any of the usual or knownways now employed in order to throw the gear-wheel a into and out ofengagement with its driving-gear. \Vhcn the machine starts, the speed ofshaft A is greater than normal at first, because the gear (L is drivenby the portion of the scroll c of the greatest radius, but as themovement of the machine continues the gear-wheel a, by the backing d, iscompelled to follow the convolutions ot the scroll by which it is drivenuntil finally it reaches the cylindrical part c, by which it issubsequently driven. During this move ment the speed of rotation offeed-shaft A is gradually reduced until, as the gear a reaches thecircular part c, it becomes normal. The backing (Z serves to hold thegear (L in positive engagement with the beveled teeth on the scroll aswell as the circular part of the wheel C. Practice has demonstrated thatno further means of holding and keeping the wheels in working engagementis requisite. The decrease in depth of the V-groove formed by the scrollc and backing (Z, or, more accurately speaking, the decrease in theheight of the walls of that groove, as it approaches the center enablesthe gear a to pass readily from the scroll to the circle 0 and thenceforward to follow the circle 0' without cramping or jamming at the angleof junction of the scroll and the circle.

Having described my invention and the best way now known to me ofcarrying the same into practical eilect, what I claim herein as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. in a carding-machine the combination with the feeding mechanism, ofmeans substantially as described, whereby the feed mechanism, when themachine starts, can be driven at a speed greater than normal, and therate of speed of the same thereafter be automatically and graduallyreduced until it reaches the normal rate, substantially as and for thepurposes hereinbefore set forth.

9. In a cardingmachine and in combination with the feedshaft, the gear arotating with said shaft and capable of movement in a directionlengthwise of the axis of the same, and the toothed scroll-wheel Cdriven by the doitcr-shaft or other suitable moving part of the machine,and consisting of the beveledtooth scroll c and circle 0, and backing d,the scroll and backing gradually decreasing in height as they approachthe circular part c, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbeforeset forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this th day of June,1897.

JAMES EDGE.

\Vitnesses:

ALFRED IIITCHON, ARTHUR O. HALL.

